


Great Guy

by took_skye



Series: Living For the Night [20]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, F/M, POV Female Character, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-16
Updated: 2011-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-22 21:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/242772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/took_skye/pseuds/took_skye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Garcia gets stood up on Valentine's Day it's her Boss-Man, Hotch, to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Great Guy

  
_"A friend in need is a friend indeed." ~ Scots proverb_

***///***

This was a new low for me…being stood up on Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t intentional, I know that, but nevertheless I’m sitting at a lovely table for two in the center of the most romantic restaurant in the city all alone. Humiliating. Just…humiliating.

“Penelope?

My head snaps up in shock and I smile wide.

“Hotch! What are you doing here?”

“Working on the case of the lonely housewife, the businessman, and his secretary.”

“Which one?” I crack. We get a lot of those.

The too-serious-for-his-own-good man allows for a small, brief, smile. “Doesn’t matter, I already have more than enough information for the wife. The husband’s not exactly discreet. So, what are you doing here, Garcia?”

I sigh and frown. “Kevin, you know, Kevin Lynch, one of the operators from the police station…”

Hotch nods his understanding so I jump ahead.

“Well he and I were supposed to have dinner here tonight.”

“And he didn’t show?”

I can already see my boss preparing to be outraged on my behalf and wave off the idea with both hands. “He got pulled in for a double-shift or something.” I shrug. “There isn’t anything that can be done, I’m afraid.”

“I disagree.”

“Really?”

“Well I could join you.”

“You don’t have to do that, sweetness.”

Boss-Man smiles. “No, maybe not, but I’d like to. May I, Garcia?”

I grin as my lashes flutter my face red. “Well, be still my bespectacled heart, of course you can.”

Hotch pulls out the chair opposite me and settles in before signaling the waitress nearby. The waitress nods and holds up a finger to say she’ll be a moment.

“Are you all set with…whatever it is you're drinking?”

“Pink Flirtini.”

“Excuse me?” Hotch tries to hide his amusement under confusion.

“Pink Flirtini.” I grin and lift the pink alcoholic concoction towards him. “You want to try a sip, it’s really good.”

Hotch laughs. “Not if I want to keep my identity as a man.”

“Oh, pooh, you don’t have anything to worry about in that department, trust me.”

My boss’s eyes go wide clearly unsure how to take such a comment from me.

“Just take a small sip,” I insist. “I promise I’ll never tell a soul.”

His eyes dart about for a moment, checking to see if the coast is clear, before he takes the martini glass from me and puts it to his lips. I watch the bob of his Adam’s Apple as he swallows, then the lick of his lips as he hands the drink back.

“So?”

“Bubbly.” He comments with a slight smile.

“That’s the champagne, Big Man.” I take a sip of my own before putting it down. “It’s good though, right?”

Hotch only gets the opportunity to nod as the waitress finally comes over. He orders his usual Scotch while I get two refills of my Pink Flirtini.

“Would you mind if I ordered the food for us, Hotch?”

“Not at all, Garcia.”

I order us their Valentine’s Day special dessert of red velvet cupcakes.

“No dinner?” My boss asks once the order is in and waitress gone.

“Nope, tonight’s all about the liquor and the desserts.”

“I see.” Hotch gives a private smile before focusing in on me. “So…Kevin Lynch, hm?”

“Hmmm?” I tease back holding the hum until I get a laugh that I can join in on.

“How, uh, how long have you two been…”

He doesn’t know how serious my relationship is and doesn’t want to overstep his bounds, I can tell. Hotch is always nervous about that, about overstepping bounds.

“This would’ve been our third date.”

“That’s nice.”

“Lucky Number Three.”

“Lucky number three?”

“Third date rule, you know?”

Hotch eyes me for a long while, but then gives up. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

It’s adorable how out of the loop he can be on certain things…like Dr Reid only far more serious about it. Of course there’s always the chance he’s playing me to, Boss Man’s always got the best poker face around. Either way I indulge.

“Let’s just say it’s probably Morgan’s favorite date.”

It takes until the waitress comes with our new drinks for it to finally click. “Oh,” his face blushes soft and there’s a twitch of his lips that could almost be considered a smile. “I see.”

“Don’t even think about it though, I only have loins for Lynch,” I tease with a wink.

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” the blush deepens enough that the man goes to hide behind his glass of Scotch.

“Promise?”

“Scouts’ Honor.” He takes a sip.

“Good boy.” I wink at the boss again and earn a small laugh.

***

Time is passed in meaningless conversation, scrumptious cupcakes, and enough cocktails to drown two ant farms. Despite my protests Hotch insists on paying and walking me home. He walks me right up my stoop, the gentleman.

“I’m sorry that your romantic dinner didn’t go as planned, Penelope.”

I give my boss a cherry grin. “This was pretty spectacular as far as romantic dinners go if you ask me.”

“How's that?”

“Well how many girls you know get to spend a night watching their male bosses get tipsy off Pink Flirtinis and then moan into the bite of a cupcake?”

The redness returns to Hotch’s face five-fold as he confesses. “Not many, I imagine.”

“Right you are, Boss-Man. So, despite not ending the night panting and moaning between some silk sheets, I think this date can be filed as a win.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Hotch smiles at me as the silence starts to take up the spaces between us.

Then my boss does something that I'll assume is more flirtini and the man himself. He leans in, plants his lips tentatively on mine. It’s chaste, more sweet-boy than sexy-man, but makes my heart patter-pat nevertheless.

Hotch's face is a firetruck when he pulls back no more than three seconds later. “I just…” he shrugs, “it’s Valentine’s Day and…” he shrugs again as we both realize he can’t quite verbalize his reasons.

“Thank you, Aaron.”

I use his first name so he knows this will be kept between us. This was a private incident, part of our personal lives, and will always remain just between us.

He understands and smiles. “Goodnight, Penelope.”

“Night Aaron!”

I turn and head into my building. Hotch stays outside, watching, until I give him one last wave and step into the elevator.

He might not show it, or even realize it, but my Boss-Man is one great guy.

***///***

 _"Some people think that friendliness is a sign of weakness, when in reality it is a sign of strength." ~ Wolfgang Singer_


End file.
